MMI QBank
25 practice questions in this category. Every question includes an expandable + Model answer with framework-guided guidance. Browse the full question bank.
Ethical Awareness
Medical ethics interview questions explore your understanding of ethical principles including autonomy, beneficence, non-maleficence, and justice. These are among the most common medical school interview and MMI questions.
A patient refuses life-saving treatment. What would you do?+ Model answer
Framework: ETHICS
Autonomy: informed refusal in a capacitous adult. Beneficence/non-maleficence: clear explanation of risks and alternatives. Justice: equitable information. Explore reasons, involve senior support, document, respect valid refusal with follow-up.
When is it acceptable to break confidentiality?+ Model answer
Framework: ETHICS
Default is confidentiality. Exceptions: serious risk of harm, legal duty, patient consent. Minimum necessary disclosure to the right person. Seek senior advice when unsure.
Should vaccination be mandatory?+ Model answer
Framework: ETHICS
Balance autonomy, public beneficence, and justice for vulnerable groups. Discuss education, access, and limited exemptions. Avoid one-sided answers — reason through trade-offs.
Should patients be allowed to refuse treatment?+ Model answer
Framework: ETHICS
Yes if capacitous and informed — autonomy is central. Duty to ensure understanding, explore concerns, offer alternatives. Distinguish refusal from inability to consent. Document and support.
How would you approach informed consent?+ Model answer
Framework: ETHICS
Autonomy requires adequate information in understandable language. Cover benefits, risks, alternatives, and right to refuse. Check understanding and capacity. Allow time; use interpreters when needed.
How should limited healthcare resources be allocated?+ Model answer
Framework: ETHICS
Justice framework — fairness, need, benefit, and transparency. Reference clinical criteria not subjective bias. Acknowledge rationing is difficult; decisions should be defensible and equitable.
Should lifestyle choices affect treatment priority?+ Model answer
Framework: ETHICS
Generally no — justice and non-discrimination. Care based on clinical need. Discuss behaviour change support without punitive withholding. Acknowledge edge cases debated in policy with reasoned view.
How would you handle a patient requesting ineffective treatment?+ Model answer
Framework: ETHICS
Beneficence and non-maleficence: explain lack of evidence and potential harm. Autonomy: respect informed choice where legal. Partner on realistic alternatives; involve senior if conflict persists.
Should doctors ever refuse treatment?+ Model answer
Framework: ETHICS
Rarely — but may refuse non-emergency care if abusive, outside competence, or futile after discussion. Must arrange alternative care and not abandon patients. Contrast with patient refusal.
What are the ethical issues in end-of-life care?+ Model answer
Framework: ETHICS
Autonomy (advance directives), beneficence vs prolonging suffering, family dynamics, truth-telling, resource use. Emphasise palliative focus on comfort and dignity. Multidisciplinary and culturally sensitive approach.
Should euthanasia be legal?+ Model answer
Framework: ETHICS
Present both sides — relief of suffering vs sanctity of life, safeguards, slippery slope. Know your jurisdiction's law. Focus on rigorous reasoning, not personal dogma.
Should doctors be allowed to strike?+ Model answer
Framework: ETHICS
Tension between workforce justice and patient non-maleficence. Emergency cover, proportionality, and negotiation. Acknowledge complexity — doctors have duties but also rights.
What are the ethics of genetic testing?+ Model answer
Framework: ETHICS
Autonomy and informed consent; implications for family; privacy; insurance discrimination (justice). Counselling before and after testing. Handling unexpected findings carefully.
Should medical research involve animals?+ Model answer
Framework: ETHICS
3Rs — replace, reduce, refine. Balance beneficence to future patients with harm to animals. Regulation, justification, and alternatives. Personal view with ethical reasoning.
How should doctors handle social media misinformation?+ Model answer
Framework: ETHICS
Beneficence: correct harm with evidence-based, respectful messaging. Autonomy: persuade not patronise. Professionalism: avoid conflict of interest. Signpost trusted resources.
What would you do if you witnessed unethical behaviour?+ Model answer
Framework: ETHICS · STARR
Patient safety first. Speak to the person if safe, escalate through governance, document facts. Whistleblowing pathways. Show courage with process, not gossip.
Should prisoners receive the same healthcare as others?+ Model answer
Framework: ETHICS
Justice and equity — healthcare based on clinical need, not moral judgement. Practical barriers still require advocacy. Align with human rights framing.
Should healthcare be provided to undocumented individuals?+ Model answer
Framework: ETHICS
Public health and justice arguments for access to essential care. Non-maleficence — untreated illness harms individuals and communities. Acknowledge policy complexity without dehumanising.
How should doctors balance autonomy and beneficence?+ Model answer
Framework: ETHICS
Start with autonomy if capacitous and informed. Beneficence when patients lack capacity or underestimate harm. Dialogue, least restrictive option, involve advocates. No paternalism by default.
What are the ethical issues in telemedicine?+ Model answer
Framework: ETHICS
Privacy, consent, capacity assessment remotely, equity of access (justice), quality of examination limits. Know when in-person care is required.
Should expensive treatments always be funded?+ Model answer
Framework: ETHICS
Justice and resource stewardship — cost-effectiveness, opportunity cost, transparent criteria. Compassion for individual cases vs system sustainability. No unlimited funding assumption.
How should organ allocation decisions be made?+ Model answer
Framework: ETHICS
Justice — fair, transparent criteria (urgency, benefit, waiting time). Avoid bias. Autonomy via consent systems. Explain that allocation is among the hardest justice problems in medicine.
Should minors be treated without parental consent?+ Model answer
Framework: ETHICS
Gillick competence / mature minor doctrines where applicable. Autonomy of competent minors in sensitive care; otherwise parental responsibility with child's welfare paramount. Know legal frameworks in your context.
How should cultural beliefs influence treatment decisions?+ Model answer
Framework: ETHICS · EMP
Respect autonomy and beliefs while ensuring informed choice. Explore with EMP; do not stereotype. Beneficence when beliefs risk serious harm — dialogue and senior support.
What ethical challenges will medicine face in the future?+ Model answer
Framework: ETHICS
AI decision-making, genomic medicine, ageing populations, climate health, global inequity. Pick 2–3 with principle-based analysis. Show awareness medicine evolves faster than ethics guidelines.